Catholic relief agency leaders spoke about ongoing issues within the populations they serve in Gaza, Lebanon
As the Israel-Hamas war enters its second year, expanding to a wider region of the Middle East, two Catholic agency leaders based in Jerusalem and Beirut are warning the conflict is decimating the populations they serve.
On Nov. 4, the Catholic Near East Welfare Agency-Pontifical Mission hosted a media briefing with CNEWA-Pontifical Mission’s regional directors Michel Constantin, who oversees efforts in Lebanon and Syria, and Joseph Hazboun, who heads up the mission in Palestine and Israel.
Hazboun, speaking by video call from Jerusalem, said in his update that conditions in his region are “terrible.”
“In Jerusalem, life seems to be normal but the tension is unbearable,” he said. “There is a rupture in the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians that will take years to mend. And this rupture started after October 7th last year because of the events and because of the high level of incitement which drove both communities, the Israelis and the Palestinians, to be afraid of one another.”
The Israel-Hamas war was launched in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, when militants from the Gaza Strip gunned down more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took over 240 civilians and soldiers hostage. In September, the conflict extended into Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Shia militia Hezbollah is based.
Hazboun said that “the worst case scenario is in Gaza,” where the war has left 90% of the population displaced.
“Women, children, families had to move from their own homes and apartments seeking what were announced as ‘safe areas,’ which were not safe at all,” he said.
“This war is really something that we have never seen,” he said. “This is way beyond any imagination. … There is a systematic destruction of the infrastructure and what makes life possible in Gaza.”
The war has also brought a halt to the tourism sector, thereby depriving families of much-needed income, said Hazboun, noting that “the situation is very severe” in the Bethlehem region, where “around 4,000 families” no longer have the means to support themselves.
Speaking by video call from Beirut, Constantin said that “almost 90% of the people” in Lebanon’s south have fled north, deepening a long-running socioeconomic difficulties for that nation, which has also been home to an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees fleeing their nation’s repression and political instability.
Constantin added, “We are very much afraid in Lebanon that this could create internal tension that could lead eventually maybe to a mini-civil war or a kind of internal violence between Lebanese.”
Although CNEWA-Pontifical Mission teams in have been able to provide aid, “the humanitarian crisis is huge … unprecedented,” said Constantin, who along with Hazboun stressed his gratitude for donor support, which has enabled the CNEWA-Pontifical Mission to become a lifeline for those suffering due to the war.
Constantin said such support is all the more critical since the Lebanese government is “very weak,” and unable to provide even basic shelter, potable water or electricity.
In book, pope calls for investigation of possible genocide in Gaza
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis said the international community should investigate whether Israel’s military actions in Gaza constitute genocide.
“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of genocide. It should be investigated carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,” he said in a new book, “Hope Never Disappoints: Pilgrims Toward a Better World.”
Yaron Sideman, the Israeli ambassador to the Holy See, posted on X a few hours later: “There was a genocidal massacre on 7 October 2023 of Israeli citizens, and since then, Israel has exercised its right of self-defense against attempts from seven different fronts to kill its citizens.”
The pope made the comment in the context of speaking about global migration and wars, economic hardships and climate disasters that force people to flee.
The U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as any act “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
Formal recognition of genocide by a nation or by the U.N. International Court of Justice requires signatories to the convention to act to prevent further acts of genocide and to punish those responsible.
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
